Tool joint protector



Nov. 11, 1958 2,860,013

J. F. MEDEARIS TOOL 'JOINT PROTECTOR Filed Feb. 29, 1956 2 SheetsSneet 1 FIG.1 FIG. 2

INVENTOR. JAMES F. MEDEARIS BY 6ZZZ2JZ&)%4W

ATTORNEYS Nov. 11, 1958 J. F. MEDEARIS 2,860,013

TOOL JOINT PROTECTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 29, 1956 IN VEN TOR.

JAME$ F; MEDEARIS BY W 6 fiw ATTORNEYS TOOL JOINT PROTECTOR James F. Medearis, Ventura, Calif. Application February 29,1956, Serial No. 568,674 6 Claims; (Cl. 3084) This invention relates to oil well drilling apparatus and moreparticularly to a tool joint protector adapted to be aflixed'to various drilling tools, such as "drill pipe and the like, for protecting them'against wear and abrasion against the side walls of abore hole during a drilling operation.

Drill pipe protectors are well known in the art and generally comprise a rubbercollar or thelike, of larger diameter than the drill pipe, adapted to befixedabout the drill pipe and-buff up againstthe casing or bore hole side walls to protect the pipe from abrasion'and wear. These drill pipe protectors also have a certain'stabilizing influence during drilling. operations whereby the necessary drilling'torquemaybe' somewhat-reduced. An excellent example ofadrill pipe protector is described andshown in U. S. Patent No. 2,368,4l5'issuedto J. M; Grant on January 30, 1945.

In directional drilling operations, the abrasive wear and possible damage to a drill pipe string isgreatly'increased as aresult of the curved path the drill pipe string must follow. The use of some sort of bufiing means is, therefore,.almost mandatory in such directional drilling operations in order to avoid twisting Off of the drill pipe string and similar excessive damage.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide'a greatly improved protectingdevicewhich is useful not only for proteetingdrill pipe, but any tool employed in a drilling operation:

More-particularly, it is an object to provide a tool joint protector which may be easily afiixed to conventional drill pipe without the necessity ofany special too-ls or modification in the drill pipe whereby the use of such'protcctors is made vastly more economical and time saving than has been the case in the past.

An auxiliary object in connection with the afogementioned object is to provide a tool joint protector comprising a minimum number of parts and in which any one or more of the parts may be replaced in case -of damage and usable with the remaining parts whereby further economy is efiected.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are attained byproviding a sleeve member in the form of two semi-cylindrical sections adapted to be fitted together about a tool, such as a drill pipe, at any desired axial position on the pipe. By making the sleeve in two half sections, theinstallation thereof is relatively simple in that it need not be telescoped over one of the ends ofthe tool. Portions of each of the half sections arecircumferentially extended to' form projections and nited States Patent ice 2. be moved. End flanges are provided (mate cylindrical sleeve so that it appears somewhat similar to a'sp'ool.

The actual protecting or cushioning device is in-the form of a protecting collar of resilient rnate'rialsuch as hard rubber or equivalent substance and is providedwith a lateral split to enable the protector to be circumferen tially spread apart and placed about thc'sleeve'mernbe'r. Preferably, the protecting collar is provided'witha'tongue and groove'arrangement to maintain its shear strength-in axial directions. The outside diameter ofthe'prote'c'tin'g collar is sufliciently large that it will'buff'against the"'bore hole side walls or casing before any'ofthe joints in'tli'e drill pipe stringor vulnerable portions of atool, in the event the device is used on a tool,*-abut'a'gainst the'side walls. Preferably, resilient means in the form of metallic bands are arranged to gird the protecting collar to'ho'ld the lateral split and groove and tongue-portions securely together.

The inside diameter of the protecting collar is slightly greaterthan the outside diameter of the cylindrical sleeve member so that'the collar is free to rotate on the sleeve. Thus, when'the collar engages thebore hole'sideWallor casing it will remain stationary and the drill pipe -or"drilling tool may rotate together with thew'earing sleevewithin the collar. Circulating mud serves as a lubricantbetween the exterior of the cylindrical sleeveniembenand the inside of the collar. The collar isalso provided, however, with lateral V-cut grooves to enable the circulation of mud to take place notwithstanding the diameter of the collar is relatively large. A-large diam ter collar provides good stabilizationsincethe bufl'ingofthe exterior of the collar against'th'e side walls of the bore hole will be sufficiently limited to maintain'th'e' drill pipe string centralized.

In-a' second embodiment of'the invention,' the cylindrical sleeve-member is again made in two semi-cylindrical half portions'each provided with small-undercut"recesses or notches adapted to' engage'button projectionspermanently welded-on the drill pipe string to which the wearing sleeve is to be attached. In this embodiment, some of the versatility of the protecting device islost since it requires that the button portionsbef permanently positioned on the tool to which thedevice is tobe attached, and thereby limits the position that the devicemay a ssume. Nevertheless, the embodiment is somewhat simpler fro-m a machining'stand-po'int and for specific uses, serves the desired purpose of enabling simpleand economical installation without the necessity of special type tools;

A better understanding ofthe invention andits various features and advantages will be hadby referringto the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of 'a bore holeillustrating a drill pipe string and protecting members designed in accordance with the present invention;-

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a preferred type of wearing sleeve member forming part of 'thetool joint protecting member;

Figure 3 illustrates the protecting collar-portionina perspective view;

Figure 4 is a cross section taken in the direction of the arrows 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the wearing sleeve member; and,

Figure 6 is an enlarged cross section taken in the direction of the arrows 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown a bore hole 10 within which is disposed a string of drill pipe 11, each of the pipes being coupled together by conventional drill pipe joints 12. The improved tool joint protectors for the particular joints 12 are shown at '13. It will be noted from Figure 1 that each tool joint protector comprises an inner cylindrical wearing sle evedesignated generally by the numeral 14 and a protecting collar 15 surrounding the sleeve 14 and secured together by a plurality of resilient band members 16.

Referring now to Figure 2, a preferred embodiment of the inner wearing sleeve member 14 is shown in greator detail. This sleeve member preferably comprises two semi-cylindrical halves 17 and 18 having end flanges 19 and 20 as shown. Circumferential edge portions of the semi-cylindrical member 17, for example, are extended to form circumferential projections 21 and recessed to provide circumferential recessed openings 22 between the projections 21. Similarly, the lateral edges of the semicylindrical member 18 have circumferential projecting portions 23 and circumferential recessed openings 24. The other lateral edges of the two half members, respectively, are provided with similar projections and recesses such as the projections 25 for the semi-cylindrical half member 18. Each of the half members 17 and 18 are identical in construction, one of the half members, such .as the half member 18, for example, being inverted so that the projections 23 of its one side mate within the recesses 22 of the half member 17, and correspondingly, the projections 21 of the half member 17 mate within the recessed openings 24 of the half member 18. The circumferential extent of the various projections is over cen- ..er or beyond the axis of the cylindrical sleeve when the two half members are assembled together so that they will actually encircle more than 180 of the tool or drill pipe about which they are placed and frictionally grip the pipe as a result of the natural resiliency in the sleeve material.

From the above description it will be evident that the cylindrical sleeve member may be placed on any portion .of a cylindrical tool or drill pipe without having to telescope it over one end, and further, that the application of the cylindrical sleeve to the pipe may be readily effected without the use of any special tools. a The protecting collar portion 15 is illustrated in greater detail in Figure 3 wherein it will be noted that the col :lar is provided with a central opening 26 of somewhat 1. greater diameter than the outside diameter of the sleeve member 14. The opening 26 is of lesser diameter than the end flanges 19 and 20, however, so that when the protecting collar 15 is placed about the sleeve it is free .to rotate thereon, but will be retained by the sleeve from axial movement by the end flanges 19 and20. As shown in Figure 3, the protecting collar is provided with a lateral split 27 extending axially downward through a lateral side of the collar for a limited distance and then extending circumferentially, thence axially, thence circumferentially in an opposite direction, and finally axially again to pass out the lower edge. By cutting the collar in this manner, there is provided a tongue and groove as at 28 whereby the axial shear strength of the collar memher is not appreciably afiected by the cut 27.

As shown in Figure 3, the collar member is provided with three lateral V-shaped grooves 29, 30 and 31. The purpose for these grooves is to enable mud to continue to circulate past the protectors whereby they may be made of relatively large diameter to insure protection of the .partizular tool joint or pipe to which the protector is secure In order to insure that the collar member 15 will not separate circumferen'tially at the split 27, the bands 16 are arranged to encircle a relatively large circumferential portion of the collar. In the embodiment chosen for illustrative purposes, three such bands 16 are shown, although there may be more or less depending upon the particular application of the tool joint protector. In Figure 4 the mannerof securing the bands 16 is illustrated. Each of the bands 16 comprises a resilient metal of high spring characteristics so that it may be circled about the protecting collar and will hold itself in position. As shown in Figure 4, the ends of each band have-radially in- -wardlydirected projections 32 and '33receivable in cav ities 34 and 35 respectively in the protectingcollar. The design of the bands and the rubber protecting collar 15 is such that they may be easily installed about the sleeve 14 without the need of special tools. This simplicity in installation and thus the resulting saving of time is an important feature of the present invention and enables a far more economical installation operation.

.In Figure 5 there is shown a modified type of wearing sleeve comprising two semi-cylindrical members 36 and 37 adapted to encircle portions of a drilling tool or drill pipe 11. In this instance, the half sleeve sections are provided with recessed cavities indicated in dotted lines at 38 adapted to receive buttons.39 such as shown in detail in Figure 6. The leading edges of the buttons 39 are sloped as at 49 to mate with corresponding sloping side walls of the cavities 38 such that by pressing the semicylindrical members about the pipe, the button will snap into the cavities and secure the same to the pipe. After the cylindrical sleeve has been secured on the drill pipe, 7

the cushion or protecting collar 15 may then be placed about the sleeve as described heretofore. I

In operation, the cylindrical sleeve is first placed about a portion of the drill pipe adjacent a tool joint or adjacent any portion of a tool it is desired to protect. The protecting collar 15 is then placed about the sleeve and the bands 16 applied to the collar. The entire procedure is relatively simple and does not requ re the uncoupling of any of the drill pipes in the string or the disconnecting of any tools to be used. Further, when the wearing sleeve member of the type shown in Figure 2 is empl yed, there is no limitation as to the axial location of the sleeve on the pipe inasmuch as it is designed to friction'ally engage the exterior of the pipe.

Since the outside diameter of the protecting collar is greater than the outside diameter of any of the tool joints or any of the drilling tools that may be employed, these joints or tools are protected from buffeting against the bore hole side Walls.

Removal of the tool joint protectors may be simply effected by reversing the various steps described above in applying the device. First, the resilient bands 16 are removed and the protecting collar 15 is then withdrawn. The wearing sleeve member may then be pried apart and easily removed without having to telescope, it oil of one end or the other of the pipe or tool, as the case may be.

Not only does the present construction provide a tool joint protector which may be readily installed, but also provides a protector of the type that does not require any modification of the conventional drill pipe e uipment or conventional oil well tools. Various modifications within the scope and spirit of the present invention will occur to those skilled in the art. The tool joint protector is, therefore, not to be thought of as limited to the specific embodiments chosen for illustrative purposes.

What is claimed is:

l. A tool joint protector comprising: a sleeve member adapted to be separated into two halves to enable it to be placed about a tool; means for securing each half to 7 said tool; end flanges on said sleeve member; a flexible protecting collar having a lateral split to enable it to be placed about said sleeve between said end flanges, said collar having an inside diameter greater than theoutside diameter of said sleeve member and a series of longitudinally extending lateral V-grooves cut in its outside surface to pass circulating mud; and resilient band means for V securing said lateral split in said collar.

2. A protector according to claim 1, in which said means for securing each half of said sleeve member to said tool comprises over center circumferential projec- V tions and circumferential recesses along the lateral edges of each half adapted to mate together to form a cylindrical sleeve, said projections being resilient to-securely grip said tool whereby said sleeve memberzis frictionally retained to said tool inthe position'it is initially, applied. 3. A protector according to claim 1, in which said means for securing each half of said sleeve member to said tool comprises projecting buttons secured to said tool and receiving cavities on the inside portions of said halves adapted to receive said projecting buttons when assembled together to form the cylindrical sleeve.

4. A tool joint protector comprising: a sleeve member separable into two semi-cylindrically shaped halves, each half having over center circumferential projections and circumferential recesses adapted to mate with each other to provide a cylindrical sleeve for encircling a tool; end flanges on said sleeve; a protecting collar having a lateral split whereby it may be placed about said sleeve and retained thereon by said end flanges; and resilient securing means for holding said collar split together.

5. A tool joint protector according to claim 4, in which said lateral split in said collar extends in a direction generally parallel to the collar axis for a given distance, thence extends circumferentially at right angles to said axis for a given distance, then extends parallel to the axis again, and thence circumferentially in a direction opposite to said first circumferential direction for a given distance, and thence again parallel to the axis to pass out of the lower edge of the collar whereby a tongue and groove shaped split results.

6. A tool joint protector according to claim 5, in which said resilient securing means comprise bands of high spring material adapted to gird said collar, each of said bands having radially inwardly directed projections on their ends adapted to be received in corresponding cavities within said protecting collar whereby said split is held together by said bands.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 523,238 Rarig July 17, 1894 1,974,546 Shipley Sept. 25, 1934 2,252,978 Parkin Aug. 19, 1941 2,368,415 Grant Jan. 30, 1945 2,718,266 Berry et a1. Sept. 20, 1955 

